Imperfect Paradise
by TheEliteLabRatsLover
Summary: Felicity might not have the most normal life, but in the end, it doesn't matter. Because she loves it and wouldn't change a single thing about it. After all, it's her imperfect paradise.


**Hey all! Wow, I am on a roll lately! How many stories have I even posted lately!? Whoa...I don't know, but it seems like it is a lot. I don't know...it's late. I'm tired. I just want to post this. ;) Anyway, I hope that you like this story! It was just a crazy and completely random idea that I got, so I hope that it's all right! Lol. By the way, I made Felicity live in an apartment for this story; it just needed to be that way for the story! ;) So, please read and review and I hope that you like it! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I'm too tired to put a witty remark, so this time I'll just go with the truth. I do not own this story.**

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Felicity has experienced a ton of crazy things in her life.

Literally a _ton_.

Being friends and 'teammates' with several superhero vigilantes can do that to a person. But there will never be a time when it doesn't surprise her. Like this one for an example.

She had just been at home, literally sitting down and taking a sip of her tea from her mug, getting ready to read a book that she's been wanting to read for a _long_ time, when she had heard a strange noise from outside of the glass screen doors that led to the porch of her apartment room.

She frowned, setting her mug of tea on the table beside the couch, and walked over to the glass windows. She didn't see anything, and shrugged. Maybe it was a bird or something. Like a nighthawk since really no other bird was out and about at night, She sighed and started to head back, when she heard it.

Almost like a faint...knocking?

A knocking on her glass screen doors? How was that possible? It wasn't like she ever got any visitors from there. Unless Oliver or Barry would drop by for something.

She headed back over there and slowly, cautiously slid the door open, taking an apprehensive step outside. A voice from beside her, made her nearly jump out of her own skin.

"Hey, Felicity," Thea said weakly with a small wave from down on the ground. Felicity gasped as she took in the sight of Thea in her Red Arrow suit, blood pooling on the porch beneath her.

She struggled to get up, and Felicity was unsure on whether or not she should help her. But when Thea nearly collapsed after trying to stand up, Felicity quickly regained her senses and went by her side, catching her before she fell. "Whoa. Little dizzy," Thea exclaimed, blinking hard and lightly shaking her head as she wrapped an arm around Felicity's shoulder.

"Thea, are you all right!?" Felicity exclaimed and Thea waved it off dismissively.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for the intrusion, by the way. I would have gone to your front door, but ya' know," She loosely gestured towards her appearance along with the suit. "Wasn't sure how your neighbors would react," She said and Felicity frowned.

"Come on, let's get you inside." Felicity said, feeling that she should be more shocked by this, but after knowing Oliver for the past few years, this wasn't that out of the norm. Thea stumbled as she tripped over her own feet, and Felicity struggled to keep the both of them upright, because _dang_ , was this girl heavier than she looked.

They managed to make it over to the couch, and Felicity tried to gently lay Thea down on her back on the couch; the quiet hiss of pain from Thea's lips not going unnoticed by Felicity.

Only after that, did Felicity realize where exactly the blood was coming from; there was a fairly bad wound on Thea's stomach, and just the sight of it was enough to make Felicity feel queasy. "Thea..." Felicity began patiently, calmly.

"What the hell happened to you!?" She exclaimed, leaving all other previous signs of being calm behind. Thea grimaced as she pulled off her mask, simultaneously putting pressure on the wound on her stomach with the other hand. She shrugged with a wince.

"You should see the other guy," She joked, but Felicity just glared at her. Thea sighed. "Bullet wound. Went clear on through. I needed a place to recover; I couldn't go to Ollie because I knew he would freak, and I wouldn't be able to get to Diggle and Lyla's place, so I came here." A look of sudden clarity arose on Thea's face; leaving Felicity clueless.

"I hope that's alright! I can leave if you want-" She started saying as she quickly struggled to get up, a hiss of pain once again tearing through her lips.

Felicity quickly jumped into action and gently shoved Thea back down. She tried to offer some comfort as Thea's jaw clenched and she screwed her eyes shut; trying to breathe though the pain.

"It's fine; I just wasn't expecting it. But don't feel bad; your brother has had his fair share of surprises for me." Felicity said and sighed when Thea's face possessed a look of remorse.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't have much choice..." She struggled to defend her actions and Felicity sighed again.

"Don't feel bad, okay? We just-we need to focus on fixing your wound before you bleed out on my couch." Poor choice of words, Felicity realized once Thea's face held that same look of remorse.

"Which I don't mind!" She quickly added. "I'll have fun explaining it to my landlord; brush up on my lying skills," She said with a nervous chuckle and a bite of her lip. That would be an interesting day for sure. "So, what should I do?" Felicity asked, unsure of how to handle this by herself.

"Well," Thea began, pushing her head back against the pain. "Do you have any medical supplies?" Felicity nodded enthusiastically; learning at an early point in her cooperation with the vigilantes that having medial supplies on hand was a definite necessity in her life.

"Medical supplies...medical supplies..." She muttered under her breath, yanking open different drawers open and trying to remember where she had stored them. She came across a first-aid kit in her dresser drawer and a triumphant smile broke onto her face.

"Yes! She exclaimed as she grabbed the small box and all but jogged back into the living room. "I've got it right here!" She said, and frowned as she noticed Thea clutching onto the couch with one hand and applying pressure to her side with the other; in obvious pain.

"Cool, thanks," Thea breathed out. "I'll just try and um, see if I can stitch this hole up," She said and Felicity shook her head.

"No way. No way, okay? You said that this wound went right on through you! Which means that there is literal whole in your back, and there is no possible way that you can stitch that up by yourself and I don't have the medical experience," Felicity rambled on; an occasional thing for her to do when she was upset and/or nervous.

Suddenly, a thought dawned on her.

"Thea...you're not going to like this, but...we need to call in Oliver." If it were in any other situation, the way Thea's eyes practically bugged right out of her head when she said that, would have almost been amusing. But this was in no possible way amusing.

"What!? No, no, no, no, no, we can't do that! There's a reason that I didn't go to him, remember? He's totally going to freak!" She exclaimed, slightly hysterical, and Felicity pointed it to the blood loss.

"I'm sorry, Thea, but I have to," She pleaded, and Thea sighed as she laid her head back and shut her eyes tightly.

"Fine, go ahead. Just don't-don't tell him why yet, okay? I don't want him freaking out on his way over and putting himself in some kind of stupid danger trying to get here fast." She declared and Felicity nodded fervently.

"Yeah, of course. Just hang on, K'?" She said, before quickly leaving the room in search of her phone. It was on the kitchen counter, just like she had thought. She grabbed it and hurriedly selected Oliver's contact.

She waited impatiently while it rang, tapping her foot nervously and anxiously glancing back at Thea in the living room every couple of seconds. " _C'mon_ ," She ground out and nearly sighed in relief when she heard his familiar baritone from the other end of the call.

" _Hello_?"

"Oliver! Thank God, you answered! I need you to come over. Like now. Okay? Something's happened and I need your help, so if you could-" She was rambling on.

" _Hey, Felicity, calm down, alright? Take a deep breath_ ," He soothed and she did as told, but she still didn't feel any better afterwards. " _Okay, what's going on? Are you all right_?" He asked, concern lacing his voice and she sighed.

"I'm fine, I just need you to come over. Now; okay?" She questioned and could hear distant noises in the background; like him grabbing his keys and the door slamming.

"Okay, I'm on my way. I'll be there soon, just hold on." And with that she heard the distinct roar of a motorcycle engine coming to life, before the call ended.

She sighed and tucked away her phone in her pants pocket, before turning back towards Thea and walking into the living room to find her panting heavily; a thin layer of sweat glistening on her forehead.

"Smooth," She choked out, and Felicity frowned. "You didn't mention me, yet you've still got him coming over here just as fast as he would have if you _had_ told him," She breathed out, sending a smirk Felicity's way as she opened her eyes for only a moment.

"Hey, I'm worried." Felicity returned with a smirk; fully aware of how she had done that. "At least, he'll be here soon, and I can stop worrying myself to death over you." Felicity sighed as she put her hands on her hips.

"Is there anything we can do to prepare for when Oliver gets here?" Felicity asked, and Thea nodded as she tried to sit up painfully. "Thea-" Felicity started to scold and Thea shook her head, cutting her off and looking like she might pass out any second.

"I need to get my shirt off so that he'll have access to the wound." She stated and Felicity nodded.

"Do you need my help?" Thea nodded with a quiet sigh.

"Yeah, I need to keep putting pressure on the bullet hole with one hand, but I'm going to need your help with my shirt, because I don't see it working too well to take it off with only one hand." She winced at the end of her statement, still panting slightly.

"Okay. Let's do this," Felicity said under her breath as she watched Thea wriggle one arm out of her sleeve by itself, and then apply pressure to the wound with that hand, while she held her other arm above her head.

"Okay, now can I have your help?" Thea questioned, clenching her jaw as the shirt aggravated her wound. A small whimper was mumbled through her teeth, and after a few minutes after they got it off, a small curse was muttered harshly under Thea's breath.

Felicity frowned as she gently helped Thea lay back down; only wearing her bra and the pants of her suit now.

Felicity dropped the blood-drenched coat and shirt on the ground where it was already bloody, and grimaced at the sight of the bullet hole in Thea's stomach, while she wiped her hands on her shirt. "Thanks," Thea muttered, looking about ready to fall asleep.

"Oh, no. No. Heck, no. You are _not_ passing out right now, Thea." Felicity demanded, and with a dismissive wave of her hand, Thea reopened her eyes to slits and glanced up at Felicity.

"Relax, Felicity, I'm just resting. This takes a lot out of ya'," She mumbled, voice almost starting to slur. Felicity swallowed before sighing; _when would Oliver get here_? She was really starting to get anxious.

But her prayers seemed to be answered, as she heard an almost urgent knock on the door. She immediately ran beside the couch, as it had it's back to the door, and went over and opened the door to see Oliver.

"Thank God," She murmured under her breath. Oliver looked slightly relieved to see that she was okay. But of course, that didn't stop him from asking.

"Felicity, are you okay?" He asked, a tinge of panic in his normally calm voice. She nodded and swallowed.

"Yeah-yeah, I'm fine. Oliver, we, um, we have a situation." She said and his brows furrowed.

" _We_?" He questioned, and she saw a look of shock roll over his chiseled features as he looked down at her shirt. He gestured toward her shirt.

"Your shirt...there's blood on your shirt." He stated and she frowned.

"What?" She asked as she looked down. "Oh, yeah," She said, realizing that earlier when she had wiped her hands on her shirt they must have had blood on them.

"Felicity-"

"I'll pay for that," A weak voice stated from over by the couch. Thea lifted her arm up over the couch and pointed at herself; her arm being the only thing you could see.

Felicity and Oliver's gazes went directly towards the couch, and when Felicity looked back, she could see the shock and worry wash over Oliver's face. He was suddenly running around the couch and over to Thea's side, crouching down next to her. Felicity soon followed.

"Thea, what happened? Are you okay?" Oliver asked rapidly, panic settling in his voice as he looked her over. Thea sighed.

"See, I told you," She directed towards Felicity, who shrugged innocently. "And I'm fine, Ollie. You should see the other guy," Thea tried to joke, but the wince on her face and in her voice failed her. Oliver sighed as he finished looking over her wounds.

"Well, it seems like it didn't hit anything important. Why didn't you come to me, Thea?" He asked, almost hurt and she sighed.

"This was closer, and besides I knew that you would freak. Now, can we please discuss sometime when I'm _not_ bleeding out on Felicity's poor couch?" Thea asked, voice getting impatient.

"Yeah, just let me clean up so I won't infect the wound," Oliver said, hurrying off towards the kitchen to do so.

"Got it," Thea breathed out tiredly. Felicity tapped her foot; unsure of what else to do. After just a minute, Oliver returned as he was rolling up his sleeves.

"Okay, Speedy, I'm going to need to disinfect the wound, stitch you up, and bandage the wound; all without anything to dull the pain. Can you handle it?" Oliver asked anxiously and Thea smirked.

"I've handled a lot worse, Ollie. Don't worry yourself too much; I don't want a sloppy scar of your poorly done stitching because you were too fidgety," She joked and Oliver chuckled.

"Okay, Felicity, do you have any peroxide on hand?" He asked and Felicity swallowed hard; realizing just _why_ exactly he would need it.

"Yeah-um, yeah. I'll go get it," She said as she ran off towards the kitchen once again, in search of the peroxide. She grabbed it from under the sink, and hurried back into the living room.

"Thanks," Oliver said as she handed it to him. "Now, I'll use the rags from the first-aid kit to clean the blood surrounding the wound after the peroxide." He bit his lip as he adjusted his position and opened the lid of the bottle, preparing himself to pour it onto the wound.

Felicity swallowed, and turned her head, not wanting to see the suffering that Thea would endure. "You ready, Speedy?" He asked quietly and she nodded painfully.

"Just do it," She ground out and Oliver suddenly poured it onto both of the wounds. Thea gasped and inhaled sharply, back arching from the pain as a low fizzing sound was heard over her gasps of pain.

She squeezed her eyes shut and arched her neck. " _Damn it_ ," She ground out. "That _hurts_." She said emphatically, and Oliver nodded as he started wiping away the blood from her wounds.

"I know, I know. Just hold on, okay?" Oliver encouraged, and she nodded with a grimace. "I need to stitch you up now, all right? So, don't move too much. Felicity," The sound of her name jerked her back to attention.

"Yeah?" He sighed as he threaded the needle.

"I may need you to hold her down if she starts moving around," Oliver said and Felicity nodded. "Thea, do you want her to hold your hand?" He asked.

"I might," She paused, inhaling another sharp breath, "Break it." She ground out and Felicity shrugged.

"Don't worry about it; if it helps, I'll do it." She said and Thea glanced up at her.

"But I," Another hiss of pain and curse. "I've already bled on your couch and ruined your shirt." Thea pointed out and Felicity shook her head.

"Those are just meaningless items; you were _shot_ and are currently bleeding out as we speak. I really don't care about those things as long as _you_ are safe." Felicity declared and Thea smiled slightly.

"Thanks. But I-I still don't want to break your hand. Do you maybe have something I can bite down on?" She asked and Felicity nodded.

"Of course! I'll just get one of my belts," She said, hurrying off towards her room. When she returned, Oliver had already started on the stitches; aggravating Felicity. "You couldn't have waited until after I'd gotten the belt?" She exclaimed once she saw the pained look on Thea's face. Oliver's lips were set in a grim line as he worked; hands moving in fluent sweeps.

"She couldn't wait that long," He stated and Felicity swallowed; her mouth falling open to reveal the letter 'o'.

"Here you go, Thea," She said soothingly and quietly, gently holding it in front of Thea's mouth.

"Thanks," She breathed out before clamping down on it gratefully with her teeth. Beads of sweat gathered on Thea's forehead as Oliver continued to work in quick yet experienced movements. Felicity crossed her arms; unsure of what else to do in this situation. She sent up a few silent prayers for Thea, and watched as Oliver started to do the other wound.

And Felicity was sure that Thea's teeth might fall out at any moment from the way she had them tensed so tight. Felicity counted out the seconds in her head, before Oliver was suddenly finished. For a moment, the entire room was almost completely silent; excluding Oliver and Felicity's sigh of relief, and Thea's heavy panting.

After a couple of moments, Thea slowly reached up and took the belt out of her mouth. She glanced at both Oliver and Felicity and smiled. "You guys..." She paused and took a sharp breath, still fighting off the pain. "Are literally the best friends a girl could ever ask for," She said with a chuckle, and Felicity laughed. Oliver smiled.

"Hopefully I didn't screw up the stitches too badly," Oliver said, although Felicity was sure that he wasn't serious. Thea acted like she was 'inspecting' his work and nodded her head with a shrug.

"Not too bad." Thea said with a smirk. "Now I'll have a scar to remind me of this night and a most definite crazy experience." Thea said with a small smile and Oliver huffed.

"I don't think that we'll be forgetting this night anytime soon," He said and then smiled, before going to clean his hands and sterilize the needle.

"Thanks for this, by the way, Felicity. I know that we've never been the closest, but I do know that you're a pretty great friend for tolerating this the way you have," Thea said with an apologetic smile. Felicity smiled softly, as she sat down on the arm of the couch next to Thea's head.

"You know, I've always wanted a little sister." She began, "I remember once, I even begged my mom for one." Felicity chuckled. "I never did get one, but...my wish has still been fulfilled. Because you're like one to me. And your the best one I could have ever asked for, Thea." Felicity declared and Thea smiled softly.

"And you're the greatest big sister a girl could ever ask for," Thea said and Felicity smiled. Suddenly, Oliver walked back into the room.

"Thea, you need to get some rest." He said and Thea groaned.

"It's like he thinks he's my father." She muttered.

"Yeah, well, right now I _am_ your doctor, so you need to listen to me." He stated and Felicity smirked at their banter.

"Okay, _fine_." Thea said with a sigh, before grabbing Oliver's hand. She smiled. "Thanks, Ollie." She said, voice much quieter now than before. Oliver smiled back and squeezed her hand.

"Anytime, Speedy." He said and this time Felicity smiled.

"I'll go get you a blanket," Felicity said, before leaving the room in search of a nice and warm blanket somewhere. After a couple minutes of digging and searching for it, she finally came across a light blue wool blanket, and headed back towards the living room. "Okay, I got one-" She started saying, but stopped abruptly when Oliver put his finger up in a 'shh' motion.

He motioned towards Thea, and her gaze went down to the now sleeping form of Thea Queen. She smiled. "She falls asleep fast," She whispered and Oliver huffed in amusement. Felicity gently laid the blanket over the peacefully resting girl, and then motioned for Oliver to follow her into the kitchen.

He looked almost apprehensive to leave Thea's side, but still came. Although, he could still see her from his spot in the kitchen; which Felicity was sure was done _not_ by accident. She softly placed a hand on his arm. "Thank you, Oliver. I was really worried about her when I saw her like that," She said.

"Yeah, she has a knack for making people worry about her." Oliver said and she quietly snorted.

"It seems that might run in the family of Queens," She said and Oliver crossed his arms in mock annoyance. She shrugged half-heartedly. "You know, she didn't want me to call you," She said and he nodded with a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I figured so. She doesn't like people to fuss over her when she's injured." He said and she smirked again.

"Yet another thing that runs in the Queen family," She 'pondered' over that fact and Oliver heatlessly glared at her and she covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "Sorry, but you guys are _very_ similar sometimes," She stated. "It's kind of cute," She said and he snorted; causing her to laugh at the action.

Once her laughter died down, she spoke up. "Would you like some tea? I don't think that mine would be very good anymore, so I'm going to make some more." She said, and that's how she had ended up drinking tea next to Oliver in the living room; quietly watching TV while keeping a close eye on Thea.

This was _not_ the way she had planned for her night to go.

But in the end, it doesn't matter. Her life may not be normal by any stretch of the imagination.

But it's moments like these, where her and Oliver are sitting in front of the fireplace, quietly talking once they had shut the TV off, while a silently sleeping Thea lies on the couch next to them, that she realizes that she might not have the most perfect life, but she still loves it.

And she wouldn't change a single thing about it. Because after all...

This was her imperfect paradise.

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 ***Drumroll* Ta-da! I get really weird when I'm tired...then again I'm weird all the time...*shakes head* never mind. :P I just hope that you liked the story and hopefully take the time to review; because seriously, those things are amazing and are like little hugs for the soul. Okay, now I'm just getting creep. So apparently I get weird, creepy and a bit psychological..eh, whatever. Add dismissive to that last, too, apparently. Lol. ;D**


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